By Jon H
October 2 2003

Spurs at home to Everton is always hard to call with last season’s 4-3 being a classic example of this truism. Once two of English football’s genuine powerhouses, sadly those days are long gone with both sides languishing in mid-table and Everton coming perilously to relegation during the 1990’s. Spurs at home to Everton is always hard to call with last season’s 4-3 being a classic example of this truism. Once two of English football’s genuine powerhouses, sadly those days are long gone with both sides languishing in mid-table and Everton coming perilously to relegation on at least three occasions during the 1990’s. Even so, Spurs v Everton at the Lane is still to be considered a ‘big’ game and it would be no surprise to find the ‘full’ signs up around the ground on Saturday afternoon. Something will have to give though on Saturday with Spurs having lost four out of their last five home games and Everton having lost four out of their last five away from Goodison Park. Everton’s away form has been patchy to say the least this season. They began with a battling display at Arsenal and were unlucky not to come away with a point. They followed this with a good point at Charlton. At Middlesbrough though, a subdued display saw the Toffees once again come away empty handed. The Everton side today under the stewardship of David Moyes bears little or no resemblance to that which flirted with the drop in recent times. Moyes has built a functional, effective side with a cutting edge, pretty much in the same vein as Gordon Strachan has with Southampton. With this in mind it’s worth analysing the probable Everton line up in some detail. Against Leeds United last Sunday they lined up [4-4-2] with the ever-dependable Nigel Martyn in goal; a back four consisting of Hibbert, Yobo, Stubbs, and Unsworth; in midfield Moyes picked Watson, Carsley, Gravesen, and interestingly, the young Scottish striking revelation James McFadden; up front, Duncan Ferguson was paired with Thomas Radzinski. On the bench were Kilbane, Linderoth, Rooney, Weir, and Turner. It will be interesting to see if Moyes employs such an attacking formation on Saturday. Playing Mcfadden in a deeper role was an interesting move by Moyes and caused the Leeds defence no end of problems. Indeed, he pulled their central defenders all over the place and was instrumental in the 4-0 victory. With three other hard-running midfielders in the engine room McFadden was able to drift all over the park to good effect. Steve Watson scored a hat-trick last week from midfield showing in the process the inherent value of having strong-running midfield players who get into goal scoring positions and Everton in Watson, Carsley, Gravesen, and Linderoth have these in abundance. Looking at Everton’s bench one cannot fail to notice one Wayne Rooney who will be champing at the bit in order to get a game. It would be no surprise to see both him and Kevin Kilbane playing a part on Saturday. In Radzinski, Ferguson, Campbell, and Jeffers – not to mention the precocious Rooney, Everton have an potent elixir of youth, pace, guile, power and aggression. In fact it is to be wondered at why this particular strike force doesn’t score more goals. All of these players though, have scored against Spurs at some level in the past, so the Tottenham rearguard will really have to be on their game. Spurs will no doubt be aware of Everton’s strength, but at the same time, they should also be aware of their weaknesses. Everton’s back four has looked both flat and stretched at times this season, none more so than when Liverpool handed out a footballing lesson at Goodison Park early in September. Everton then were unable to cope with a rampant Liverpool side attacking them down both flanks, and through the centre. If, and it’s a big if, Spurs can get behind Everton then they have a genuine chance of victory. A lot will depend [as ever] on two factors – which Spurs team turns up and which formation is employed. David Pleat has recently opted for 4-4-2 against both Coventry and Man City. How on earth Spurs escaped from the new, very impressive City of Manchester stadium is beyond me. Spurs were lucky to get nil. There was little or no decent service to the front players and the Spurs defence was carved open far too often. To be frank, the defence were little better against Coventry as well but Kanoute and Keane both proved that given the service then they can both deliver the goods. In the Premiership today there is a good argument using a mobile, all-action, strong running midfield. Against Man City, Spurs midfield looked pedestrian, lethargic, and flat. Paul Konchesky merits a mention here because I was under the impression that he wanted to leave Charlton because he wanted to play left back not left midfield. Lo and behold, where does he get his first start for Spurs – left midfield. If Spurs line up with the same midfield against Everton then they are inviting trouble. As Southampton proved two weeks ago, as indeed Fulham did too - if you can pack your midfield with earnest, hard-working midfielders then it is possible to hustle Spurs out of their stride and get at the Spurs defence – a defence sorely lacking in confidence at the moment. Spurs need to go out on Saturday and take the game to Everton. Bearing this in mind Spurs could do worse than play 4-4-2 with Keller in goal, Carr, Richards, Mabizela, Konchesky at the back; Davies [if fit], Dalmat, Ricketts, and Blondel in midfield; Kanoute and Keane in attack. Mabizela is mentioned because it has been shown time and again already [Alan Smith, Louis Boa Morte, Kevin Phillips, and Beattie, and Anelka], that smaller, agile, intelligent strikers have caused the Spurs defence all manner of problems. The midfield may look a little lightweight but Ricketts, Dalmat and Blondel if given their heads can really run at the Everton defence. If Davies is still unfit then it could pay to play Poyet in an advanced midfield role with Ricketts on the right where his enthusiasm and drive can reap dividends. All of this of course is pure hypothesis as Pleat will probably elect to partner Anderton, Bunjevcevic and Poyet in the Spurs midfield alongside either Konchesky or Blondel. If Ziege is fit then there is even a case for reverting to a 3-5-2 formation. Stephen Carr certainly seems to prefer playing in this formation. Martin O’Neill’s Celtic proved against a very good Lyon side that given the right personnel a 3-5-2 formation can flourish. There is every chance then that Spurs can win if the team is tailored to provide the service to the front men – Kanoute and Keane. Spurs fans don’t mind defeat [we are used to it after all] but what rankles is the fact that the fans can see where the problems are and as such, can also profer possible solutions to these problems. It is now up to the management to also see the light and give free rein to the Spurs young guns – go for it. Predictions: Head: 1-1 Heart: 4-1